Good Vibes: Obama Reveals Favorite Songs And Books Of 2017

Chance The Rapper's 'First World Problems' makes the list.

Barack Obama spent a lot of time with good books and most likely did two-steps to several lit songs in 2017. The former president gave the lowdown on his favorite music tracks and reads last year via a Facebook post on New Year’s Eve.

The ex-commander in chief’s reading list and playlist featured some of the hottest books and songs that made noise in 2017. Obama gave props to big authors and artists, including another Chicago native, Chance The Rapper. His song, “First World Problems” featuring rising star Daniel Caesar, talked about the lyricist’s struggle with living with newfound fame.

Obama must have felt some strong vibes from Chance’s song to put it on his list. But fans can rest assured that the 44th president had more bangers that blasted through his headphones last year. He chose 22 songs for his rundown.

As far as books, The Power by Naomi Alderman, a dystopian sci-fi novel which got the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction in June, earned the top spot. Grant by Ron Chernow, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond and Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward were also on the list. There was a healthy mix of 12 novels and nonfiction reads, the New York Daily News said.

A lot of the books “touch on economic hardship in America,” ABC News pointed out.

Many users were happy that Obama is continuing the tradition of sharing his favorite things of the year. More than 900,000 people have liked the former president’s post so far, with more than 52,000 comments and 128,329 shares as of Tuesday early afternoon.